Székely
competed in three Olympiads for Hungary. At the 1948 Games,
Székely finished fourth in the 200-meter breaststroke,
fifth in the 4x100-meter freestyle, and sixth in the 400-meter
freestyle. She returned to the Olympics four years later at the
1952 Helsinki Games, competed in two events, and won her first
Olympic medal. In the 200-meter breaststroke, Székely won
her preliminary heat and then set an Olympic record in the
semifinals. In the final, Éva won the gold medal and
lowered her Olympic record again.

Székely
's final Olympic Games occured in 1956, when she and her husband,
Dezsö Gyarmati (Hungary's water polo captain and "Greatest
Waterpoloist of All Time") left for the Melbourne Olympics during
the first days of the Hungarian revolt against Communism.
Éva later explained that the world turned upside down when:
"...we arrived in Melbourne, we learned that the Russians had come
into power...we had no word of our two-year old daughter, or my
parents. I didn't get any real sleep for a week before I was due
to race and lost over 12 pounds. My husband also was extremely
worried, of course..." At the Games, Éva won the silver in
the 200-meter breaststroke (2:54.8). She said of her silver medal:
"...even though it was one of the few times that I have been
beaten in competition, considering everything, I am very proud of
the silver medal..."

Between 1940-1958,
Székely set 10 World records and 5 Olympic swimming
records. Her World Records included the 100-meter breaststroke
(1:16.9) in 1951, the 400-meter individual medley (5:50.4) in
1953, and the 400-meter freestyle relay (4:27.2) in 1952.
Éva also won 10 World University Championships, 68
Hungarian National Titles, and held 107 Hungarian National
records! In 1952, the definition of breaststroke was such that the
arms had to move in parallel. Székely was the first to use
the butterfly stroke when she won the gold at Helsinki. By 1956,
the definition had changed and the butterfly was a medal
discipline of its own.

Trivia:

* In 1957,
Dezsö was beaten and left for dead when the communist
puppet regime heard about the family's intention of defecting.
He survived and took Éva and daughter Andrea with forged
passports and fled Hungary to the United States. They returned
to Hungary the following year because they were concerned about
Éva's parents (who remained in Hungary). Dezsö
continued to compete for the national water polo team. Andrea
Gyarmati, was a 1972 Olympic silver medalist in the 100m
backstroke bronze medalist in the 100-meter butterfly. She
later married Mihaly Hesz, the 1968 Olympic canoeing
champion.